Jameson Whiskey breaks record as worldwide sales top 48 million bottles

The parent company of Jameson Whiskey is to invest another $130million to cope with the growing demand for its product – with America its strongest marker.

Irish website Journal.ie reports that 48 million bottles of Jameson are now sold around the world.

That’s four million cases a year, a massive increase on the 466,000 cases sold globally in 1988.

As a result of the company’s impressive growth, Jameson’s parent Pernod Ricard is to invest further in its Irish operation.

The French distiller bought the whiskey company in 1988 when it took ownership of distilleries in Dublin and Cork.

Jameson announced plans to expand operations at Middleton in Cork last year with the creation of 30 new jobs with a further 30 new positions at the firm’s bottling plant in Dublin.

Now the company has announced that it is investing an extra $130 million on a new maturation site in Cork.

Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard chief executive Anna Malmhake said: “Sales of Jameson have gone from 466,000 in 1988 to four million cases by end of June this year.

“There have been 23 years of successive growth in sales and our biggest market is now the United States, where one million cases alone are bought every year.

“The American market is still growing, at 29 per cent. Russia and South Africa are also big markets for the whiskey.

“Back in 1988, the Irish market was the most important one for the brand.”

Malmhake also revealed that Jameson is now being sold in over 120 markets.

She added: “To have reached the 4 million cases milestone, which equates to over 1.3 billion glasses of Jameson consumed around the world last year, is a true reflection of the growing international success of Jameson, and the future potential of the company’s entire Irish whiskey portfolio.

“I wish to pay particular tribute to everyone in Irish Distillers from the distillery in Midleton, the bottling plant at Fox and Geese and head office in Dublin, our visitor centres, our distribution office in Belfast and the entire sales force across the country.

“It is through the support and dedication of our employees in the home of Jameson that this great Irish success story continues to grow.”